Lottery Rollovers

A lottery rollover occurs when no one wins the jackpot in a draw. The funds that would have normally been awarded to the top-tier winner are instead added to the jackpot for the following game.

Why Do They Happen?

Rollovers help increase the size of a jackpot, as ticket sales and funds from the previous draw are added to the value of the top prize. As the advertised prize rises, more people tend to buy tickets as they hope for a huge win. Playing for the same amount week after week won’t create the same amount of excitement – or ticket sales – as a rapidly-growing jackpot.

How Many Times Can the Jackpot Roll Over?

For EuroMillions, the jackpot can roll over until it reaches the value of €240 million. It can stay at that amount for four draws until it must be won in the following draw. If there are no winners in the fifth draw at the EuroMillions jackpot cap, the entire prize rolls down into the next winning tier.

Lotto Rollover Limit

Lotto has a rollover limit rather than a jackpot cap, ensuring that the top prize is won on a regular basis. The jackpot is only permitted to roll over five times in a row and it must then be won in the next draw. If no ticket matches all six main numbers, the money is shared between players in other prize tiers. A jackpot cap had previously been in place in Lotto but officials wanted to keep the game exciting and different to EuroMillions so made the changes in November 2018.

Records

The longest Lotto rollover encompassed 15 draws – the jackpot rolled after the draw on Saturday 14th November 2015 in which one player won £4.3 million, and kept rolling until Saturday 9th January 2016. The jackpot, worth £66 million, was split by two ticket holders – David and Carol Martin of the Scottish Borders and an anonymous player from Worcester.

The longest rollover for EuroMillions stands at 22 draws without a jackpot winner. Having been won by a Spanish ticket holder on Friday 19th July 2019, the EuroMillions jackpot reset to its minimum value and proved to be elusive until it climbed all the way to its jackpot cap - which was €190 million at the time. Eventually, one UK player won a prize worth £170 million on Tuesday 8th October. The winner decided to stay anonymous.

What Do You Call Multiple Rollovers?

If a jackpot has rolled over two, three or even four times, it’s pretty easy to describe; you would refer to it as a double rollover, triple rollover or quadruple rollover. However, if the run of rollovers continues, you might be hard-pressed to think of an adjective that covers the ninth or even the 20th rollover of a game.

1 – single
2 – double
3 – triple (or treble)
4 – quadruple
5 – quintuple (or pentuple)
6 – sextuple
7 – septuple
8 – octuple
9 – nonuple
10 – decuple
11 – undecuple
12 – duodecuple
13 – tredecuple
14 – quattuordecuple
15 – quindecuple
16 – sexdecuple
17 – septendecuple
18 – octodecuple
19 – novemdecuple
20 – vigintuple

Keep in mind that the higher numbers (6 – 20) are not often used, and in this instance most lotteries will advertise that there has been a “6x rollover, a “10x rollover” or another number that accurately reflects how many rollovers there have been.